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Jack Leggett imagined how it would end at Clemson, with a tip\u00a0of the cap and a wave to the crowd, thanks for the memories.
\nIt didn\u2019t, and that probably pains him, because after 24 seasons, 22 as\u00a0head baseball coach, Clemson owed him more than an unceremonious\u00a0dismissal.
\nLeggett would not complain Friday when he met five reporters before\u00a0leaving with his wife on an unplanned vacation, but there\u2019s sufficient\u00a0reason for him to wonder how his Hall of Fame career took this ugly\u00a0turn.
\nObviously disappointed, he was proud of what Clemson accomplished in his\u00a0time. Only a handful of coaches in college baseball have a richer\u00a0resume. Though the record dipped the past three seasons, his teams never\u00a0lost more games than they won, and this season \u2013 for the 21st time \u2013\u00a0returned to the NCAA Tournament.
\nBy most any standard Leggett was at the top of the profession, which early last year he was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches\u00a0Association Hall of Fame.
\nLeggett said he regretted nothing, and that what meant more to him than\u00a0any of the nearly 1,000 victories at Clemson were the people he\u2019s met\u00a0along the way \u2013 most importantly the players and former players, staff,\u00a0colleagues and fans.
\nHe was proudest of doing it \u201cthe right way,\u201d without a shred of scandal. His players were students first, and they played with a passion that\u00a0emulated their coach. Clemson teams were entertaining, and he helped\u00a0prepare a number of players for successful professional careers. Many of\u00a0the men he mentored have gone on to extraordinarily successful careers\u00a0including two with teams in this year\u2019s College World Series.
\nAnd the fans embraced it all, investing their passion and support for a\u00a0program considered to be one of the best in the nation. A survey\u00a0released Friday pegged Clemson as the seventh most successful program in\u00a0the country over the past decade.
\nSo imagine stomaching the fact that the next guy may benefit from\u00a0Leggett\u2019s sweat equity. Doug Kingsmore\u2019s name may be on the stadium, but\u00a0Jack Leggett had a hand in building it, from the grass and configuration\u00a0of the field to the Cajun Caf\u00e9, to the floors and furniture in the new\u00a0$9 million operations facility.
\nLeggett wishes Clemson baseball good fortune because of his personal\u00a0investment in the program and the fact that he recruited many of the\u00a0players that will comprise the 2016 team. If he allowed his heart to\u00a0break, it would be because his team knew what he\u2019d been facing since an\u00a0acrimonious meeting with athletic administrators the previously year and\u00a0felt responsible for the outcome, but there was probably nothing more to\u00a0be done.
\nIn the days following the announcement of his dismissal, Leggett worked\u00a0through his emotions by fielding hundreds of calls, texts and email\u00a0messages. A public statement released by Clemson didn\u2019t seem sufficient,\u00a0which was why he was willing to agree to more fully explain himself, to\u00a0offer extended thanks and to answer questions about his future.
\nA driven competitor, he lived for the game. If his team won, he started\u00a0thinking about the next game. After a loss he worried about what he\u00a0might have done differently to win. Sleep often eluded him, and he joked\u00a0about those \u201cpillow-pounders.\u201d Even after a good run in Omaha, he would\u00a0fret over what it would take to finish the next time. The morning after\u00a0a run to the semifinals in 2010 he was back on the field in Clemson\u00a0tutoring campers.
\nNow, he doesn\u2019t know if there\u2019ll be a next time.
\n\u201cWhat do you do next?\u201d
\nPopular among his coaching colleagues at Clemson, he hoped to again feel\u00a0inconspicuous walking into Death Valley or Littlejohn, places he dearly\u00a0loves to watch men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams he deeply respects. Leggett and his wife\u00a0have a home nearby on the lake, and in the immediate aftermath they\u00a0don\u2019t intend to abandon the community or the school.
\nYet, knowing him, it\u2019s hard to imagine him not long from the field,\u00a0plotting to kick another opponent\u2019s butt, then tip his cap and wave to\u00a0the crowd.
\nThanks for the memories, Jack.<\/p>\n
American Baseball Coaches\u00a0Association Hall of Fame, Clemson, Jack Leggett, Baseball, Feature\u00a0<\/p>\n
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